JEDDAH: Syria will be suspended from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday for its violent suppression of a 17-month uprising, a diplomat said on Monday before a two-day OIC summit in Mecca.

“The resolution regarding the suspension of the Syrian membership in the OIC is not facing obstacles... It will be approved,” said the diplomat, speaking on the sidelines of a preliminary foreign ministers meeting in Jeddah.

He said the decision was likely to be formally announced at the end of the second day of the summit which was called by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah earlier this month.